One question stayed unanswered during all of last week, when the working press took several days off. It had to do with the threats of “war” in Mindanao coming from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, from an unnamed spokesman of the Malaysian defense ministry, and from President B. S. Aquino 3rd himself. One reader wanted to know why, instead of showing umbrage over the offensive MILF and Malaysian statements, Aquino chose to threaten the Babala’s opponents.

They have said that if Aquino forces the passage of Babala, despite all the valid objections to it, it could trigger a violent backlash in the South. Aquino has chosen to behave in exactly the same manner as he did when he bribed the members of Congress to force the enactment of the widely opposed Reproductive Health Law that has put the State in charge of the procreative rights of Filipinos. The anti-RH crowd did not warn of war then, and no war ensued despite the funny Supreme Court ruling that pronounced as “not unconstitutional” the patently unconstitutional measure. But the opponents of Babala, especially those whose religious and property rights may be directly threatened, could take up arms in protest.